White House dinner honors the pope, who is not attending

The Associated Press

Published Saturday, April 12, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Guess who's not coming to dinner? Pope Benedict XVI.

President Bush and his wife, Laura, will host a White House dinner in honor of the pontiff Wednesday evening. U.S. Catholic leaders from around the nation will attend. The menu will offer Bavarian-style food in recognition of the pope's German heritage. It's even the pope's 81st birthday. But he won't be there.

"He's on a very ambitious official schedule," Anita McBride, Mrs. Bush's chief of staff, said Friday. "He'll be meeting with U.S. bishops that night" at a university in Washington.

Bush and his wife will go to Andrews Air Force Base on Tuesday to welcome the pope on his arrival for his first visit to the United States since he was elected in 2005.

On Wednesday, there will be a formal welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. Attendance estimates range from 9,000 to 12,000 guests.

"This probably will be the biggest number that we've had on the South Lawn," McBride said. "We had just over 7,000 for Queen Elizabeth II" in May 2007.

White House planners, who have been working on the event since about September, are anxious about getting the large crush of people through metal detectors and in position for the splashy ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. If there is a light rain, the ceremony will continue. If there's a downpour, the official delegations will be moved inside and the outdside event will be canceled.

Bush and the pontiff will make remarks at the 30-minute ceremony, which will include the U.S. and Holy See anthems, a hymn by a vocalist, spiritual and patriotic music and the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.

Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have been invited to the South Lawn to show the spirit of America.